7. Ivo
Ivo
“ I vo, I think you read these instructions all wrong.” Six was now seated on the floor beside where I’d started the vanity I bought for Emerald.
I thought she might appreciate it, and I wanted to put that shit together for her.
A nigga was trying to show her more than I could tell her, and here she was keeping me on my toes.
It didn’t take a whole lot from Emerald because shit with us was just organic.
I felt guilty about Jordan every single day, but my baby made up for that every single time I was around her.
I knew she might have needed a minute alone after that phone call she got, so I joined Six and Brick in the living room.
“Six, that nigga don’t care. He was just trying to make himself look good. Staten is the technical-minded brother. So don’t ask me to put together shit.”
“Speaking of, Stat said he was going to slide by with Cambrie and two of the four pack. Y’all good with that?”
“It is what it is. Did him or Ma talk to you about that whole Cambrie shit?” Brick leaned back on the couch and pinched the blunt between his fingers before passing to me.
“Ma got some shit going on with everybody right now. If you on her good side, try to stay that way,” I warned, dropping into the couch beside my brother.
“You know how tight she get about us.” Brick exhaled and held the blunt in my direction.
“She still need to learn how to mind her business sometimes.”
Brick choked on the weed and started beating on his chest.
“I dare you to say that shit to her face.” He passed the blunt my way.
“I ain’t trying to lose my life, or an eye. You know that chair don’t stop her from shit.”
“Facts,” Brick agreed. “What’s up with Emerald though? She cool? Maybe you should go check on her.”
“I just want to give her a minute. Them hormones she taking for the surrogacy got her all over the place.”
“Shit is crazy that after all these years, that’s who’s giving you a baby. Can’t make this shit up.”
“I like her,” Six declared. “I know you’re married and everything, and you don’t have to worry about me saying anything to your wife, but . . . I get it. You and Jordan don’t really fit. Now I see why.”
“This shit right here the proof.” Brick leaned forward and tapped the top of the art set she’d purchased.
“Emerald remembers a time where all our dreams and shit was all we talked about. I used to sketch hella pictures of her when we would sit by the creek and have picnics. She would be reading, and I’d be watching her, wanting to carve every part of her face in my memory.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Six gushed.
“That nigga’s a simp.” Brick waved me off.
I flipped him the bird and puffed on the za a little longer.
When I got up to hand it to Six, I ended up joining her on the floor to help finish putting the vanity together.
Brick was going to help me carry it upstairs whether he wanted to or not.
About forty-five minutes later, the groceries arrived, and Emerald came down with Six to unpack everything in the kitchen.
When Staten arrived with Cambrie, Piaget, and Rogue, my niece and nephew ran inside like they had no fucking home training.
I peeped Staten’s arm around Cambrie, trying to cuff her before he pecked her neck and nudged her ahead of him.
“This place is nice,” Cambrie declared, eyes roaming around the room.
“Hell yeah. Side chicks up two hundred points,” Brick kidded.
“Boy, shut up,” she cackled, swatting his arm while hovering behind the couch. “Rogue, do not touch that,” she warned as he admired a statue of an elephant nearby.
It was like she was reading his little bad ass thoughts, and he backed away.
“What y’all up to around here?” Staten asked, dropping onto the couch beside Brick.
“This nigga think he a handyman and shit. Over here putting shit together. What’s up with you? Where Tavi and Saga?”
“With their mama.” Staten sighed and leaned back into the couch. “She wanted to spend some time with them, and I just wanted to get the fuck out of the house and away from her.”
“Where’s Six?” Cambrie asked, peering around curiously.
“In the kitchen with Emerald,” I told her. “She insisted on making dinner, but I don’t think my baby can burn like that.”
“I’ll go check on them,” Cambrie stated, pivoting to the hallway behind her. “Come on, you two. I don’t trust either of you alone with all this expensive stuff.”
“That’s cold, Cambrie,” Rogue chimed in, causing Brick to fall over laughing.
My nephew reminded me of my little brother so much as a kid, it wasn’t even funny.
I know he stayed giving Staten a run for his money.
Lately, with them around, I was starting to think about this whole parenting shit even more.
My view had changed with Emerald in the picture.
With Jordan, it just seemed like the next step, some shit we should be doing as husband and wife.
Emerald had me excited in a different way, like watching her stomach grow, feeling the baby kick, and seeing who he or she looked like when they came out.
Those were the things on my mind now, and I felt bad sometimes that I couldn’t share them with Jordan.
The two of us just seemed to be going through the motions.
Marcella and Rossi kept her busy with different events where she represented me as my wife, but it was all just formal shit.
It was Emerald who I was dreaming about building a future with.
“That’s my nephson right there. When me and Six get to that baby-making shit, you gotta let me borrow him.”
“So, uh . . . this shit with you and Six for real?” I checked with him, squinting at the next instructions because I felt like I’d done some shit wrong.
“Nigga, you think I’m running up in trafficking auctions to rescue some random ass bitch?” Brick sneered.
“Just be careful. We ain’t found that nigga Skully,” Staten chimed in.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m already taking precautions. That muhfucka ain’t gon’ know what hit him.”
“Fuck this shit!” I tossed the screwdriver and jumped to my feet.
Brick fell over laughing, and Staten just shook his head.
I honestly wanted to check on Emerald. I didn’t want her uncomfortable in her own shit.
I didn’t hold anything against Six or Cambrie, but I didn’t know either of them like that.
Surprisingly, when I stepped into the kitchen, I found them all gathered at the island counter, laughing naturally with each other.
Emerald turned, eyes kind of slanted, before smiling and perking up in her chair.
“Hey. You checking on me?”
“Something like that.”
“We ain’t gon’ hurt her.” Cambrie winked at me. “I was just giving Emerald some tips on tenderizing her chicken. We’re making crusted parmesan chicken with pasta and asparagus. Six is taking care of the garlic bread.”
“Where the kids?”
“Out on the balcony. Don’t worry. I got my ear to them. Rogue!”
“Cam . . . I ain’t moved.” My nephew sounded annoyed, which only made me laugh.
“And I’m right here next to him,” Piaget spoke up.
“See.” Cambrie pushed her pouty lips together.
“She like Mary Poppins, the nanny, and some more fairytale godmother shit all wrapped in one,” Emerald joked. “You have to come over and meet Jury. My daughter will love you.”
“How old is she?”
“Four,” Emerald answered.
“We can do play dates with her and Rogue while the other kids are at school. He needs some other kids to hang around. Everyone is older than him, that’s why he acts like that.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s like one of my best friends, but that feels kind of selfish considering he’s four,” Cambrie teased.
“It’s obvious he adores you though.”
“That’s my baby,” Cambrie gushed. “He’s turning five soon and it’s all he talks about.”
I thought it was dope how connected she was to my nephew.
It was obvious she accepted Staten as a packaged deal.
Not a lot of women would fuck with him like that, given his situation, but it was clear that she was built different.
Emerald turned to me and grinned before tugging on my shirt to bring me closer.
She planted a soft kiss against my lips, and when we parted, my brows dipped in a confused frown.
“What was that for?”
“For always being able to anticipate my needs before I do,” she filled in. “Lola is my girl and I can tell her everything, but . . . sometimes it’s nice to have other people to talk to and interact with. I didn’t realize how much I missed that. I was so isolated when I first got back.”
“You sure you good? I mean, with your moms and all the shit with your pops?—”
“I don’t want to talk about that right now.
Rashida made her choices, and she is where she is.
Why should I spend my life trying to make things right for her?
I don’t doubt that she pulled the trigger.
The more I think about it, the harder it hits.
I found him.” Her warm brown eyes misted as her voice cracked.
“She let me live with that. Thinking the worst. Thinking that he would do that to me or to Sapphire. My father was not flawless, and we butted heads on just about everything, but at the end of the day…”
“He was still your father,” I finished for her, knowing that reality all too well.
“How is it we spent all these years apart and you still know me so well?”
“Because I been comparing every woman to you ever since,” I confessed.
“Awww, Ivo, that was beautiful!” Six spoke up.
“Nigga, don’t be in here doing all that sweet-talking shit. I don’t need my girl expecting that from me,” Brick voiced from the doorway before strolling inside.
“Shut up, Brick. You ain’t even had no pussy yet and you always sweet-talking me.”
“Now who’s the simp?” Ivo grinned.
Brick flipped him off and slid up behind Six. She simpered up at him over her shoulder, and he brought his lips closer to her ear.
“Why you in here telling our business?”
“Let me be clear to everybody.” Six waved her hands. “I’m a virgin.”